Rapid Institutional Shifts and the Co–evolution of Entrepreneurial Firms in Transition Economies

Economies in transition such as Russia's are among the world's fastest growing. Entrepreneurial firms in an environment like Russia's face rapid and dramatic shifts in the institutional environment. These shifts represent significant challenges to entrepreneurial firms as they seek not only to survive but also to prosper in that environment by rapidly co–evolving with institutional changes. Prior research has focused on institutional change and its impact in developed economies. But the rate of evolution of institutions in transition economies tends to be faster and less predictable. This article reports a longitudinal study of high technology entrepreneurial firms in Russia employing a grounded theory methodology to understand how entrepreneurial ventures co–evolve with rapid institutional changes and still manage to prosper.

[1]  S. Zahra.  Contextualizing theory building in entrepreneurship research , 2007 .

[2]  M. Wright,et al.  Venture capital in Asia and the Pacific Rim , 2002 .

[3]  G. Hofstede,et al.  Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind , 1991 .

[4]  H. D. Soto.  The mystery of capital : the role of property rights in creating wealth and alleviating poverty , 2004 .

[5]  Anselm L. Strauss,et al.  Qualitative Analysis For Social Scientists , 1987 .

[6]  Phillip H. Phan,et al.  Technological entrepreneurship in emerging regions , 2004 .

[7]  W. Baumol.  The Free-Market Innovation Machine - Analyzing the Growth Miracle of Capitalism , 2002 .

[8]  Yi Jiang,et al.  An institution-based view of international business strategy: a focus on emerging economies , 2008 .

[9]  G. Bruton,et al.  Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies: Where Are We Today and Where Should the Research Go in the Future , 2007 .

[10]  김인영.  일본, 한국, 대만의 기업조직 : 제도의 관점에서, The Economic Organization of East Asian Capitalism Marco Orrù, by Nicole Woolsey Biggart and Gary G. Hamilton (Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage, 1997) , 1998 .

[11]  W. Richard Scott,et al.  The Changing World of Chinese Enterprise: An Institutional Perspective , 2002 .

[12]  John Child,et al.  Co-Evolution in an Institutionalized Environment , 2003 .

[13]  Anne S. Tsui,et al.  The management of enterprises in the People's Republic of China , 2002 .

[14]  Lowell W. Busenitz,et al.  Country Institutional Profiles: Unlocking Entrepreneurial Phenomena , 2000 .

[15]  David B. Balkin,et al.  Entrepreneurship and university-based technology transfer , 2005 .

[16]  Mike W. Peng,et al.  How Network Strategies and Institutional Transitions Evolve in Asia , 2005 .

[17]  Garry D. Bruton,et al.  High-Technology Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies: Firm Informality and Contextualization of Resource-Based Theory , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[18]  Eric Gedajlovic,et al.  Varieties of Asian capitalism: Toward an institutional theory of Asian enterprise , 2009 .

[19]  T. Buck,et al.  Neo-institutional theory and institutional change: Towards empirical tests on the “Americanization” of German executive pay , 2006 .

[20]  Justin Tan,et al.  A stage-dependent model of resource utilization, strategic flexibility, and implications for performance over time: Empirical evidence from a transitional environment , 2009 .

[21]  Karen L. Newman.  Organizational Transformation During Institutional Upheaval , 2000 .

[22]  Y. Aharoni.  Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind , 1992 .

[23]  S. Shane,et al.  The Promise of Entrepreneurship as a Field of Research , 2000 .

[24]  D. Benn.  Warm words and harsh advice: a critique of the West's role in Russian reforms , 2001 .

[25]  Matthew B. Miles,et al.  Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook , 1994 .

[26]  Paul DiMaggio.  Interest and Agency in Institutional Theory , 1988 .

[27]  M. Intriligator.  Privatisation in Russia Has Led to Criminalisation , 1994 .

[28]  W. Powell,et al.  The iron cage revisited institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields , 1983 .

[29]  Gary G. Hamilton,et al.  The economic organization of East Asian capitalism , 1996 .

[30]  Sten Jönsson.  Institutions and Organizations , 1997 .

[31]  S. Shane,et al.  The Promise of Enterpreneurship as a Field of Research , 2000 .

[32]  Howard E. Aldrich,et al.  Fools Rush in? The Institutional Context of Industry Creation , 1994 .

[33]  Garry D. Bruton,et al.  An institutional view of China's venture capital industry Explaining the differences between China and the West , 2003 .

[34]  S. Spinelli,et al.  New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century , 1999 .

[35]  G. Bruton,et al.  High technology entrepreneurship in transitional economies: The Russian experience , 1997 .

[36]  Justin Tan,et al.  Entry, Growth, and Exit Strategies of Chinese Technology Start-Ups , 2004 .

[37]  Bat Batjargal,et al.  Social Capital and Entrepreneurial Performance in Russia: A Longitudinal Study , 2003 .

[38]  Miguel P Caldas,et al.  Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches , 2003 .

[39]  Saara L. Taalas,et al.  ‘Znakomstva I Svyazi’ (Acquaintances and connections) – Blat, the Soviet Union, and mundane entrepreneurship , 2004 .

[40]  Joel Waldfogel,et al.  Introduction , 2010, Inf. Econ. Policy.

[41]  A. Stinchcombe.  Social Structure and Organizations , 2000, Political Organizations.

[42]  Michael E. Raynor,et al.  The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth , 2003 .

[43]  Jean-François Huchet,et al.  Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics , 2009 .

[44]  Thomas W. Lee,et al.  Using Qualitative Methods in Organizational Research , 1998 .

[45]  F. Tipton.  Southeast Asian capitalism: History, institutions, states, and firms , 2009 .

[46]  Thang V. Nguyen,et al.  Getting bank financing: A study of Vietnamese private firms , 2006 .

[47]  Lowell W. Busenitz,et al.  Growth Intentions of Entrepreneurs in a Transitional Economy: The People's Republic of China , 2001 .

[48]  Mark C. Suchman.  Managing Legitimacy: Strategic and Institutional Approaches , 1995 .

[49]  Garry D. Bruton,et al.  Private firms in China: Building legitimacy in an emerging economy , 2008 .

[50]  K. Eisenhardt.  Building theories from case study research , 1989, STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI.

[51]  Nan Zhou,et al.  Institutional Forces and Organizational Culture in China: Effects on Change Schemas, Firm Commitment and Job Satisfaction , 2002 .

[52]  T. Fang.  Asian management research needs more self-confidence: Reflection on Hofstede (2007) and beyond , 2010 .

[53]  Edward Levitas,et al.  Special Issue on Corporate Transformation in the People's Republic of China: The Institutional Effects on Strategic Alliance Partner Selection in Transition Economies: China vs. Russia , 2004, Organ. Sci..

[54]  D. North.  Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance: Economic performance , 1990 .

[55]  Daniel J. McCarthy,et al.  Navigating the hostile maze: A framework for Russian entrepreneurship , 2001 .

[56]  M. Lounsbury,et al.  Ending the Family Quarrel , 1997 .

[57]  A. Lewin,et al.  Prolegomena on Coevolution: a Framework for Research on Strategy and New Organizational Forms , 1999 .

[58]  Mike W. Peng.  How entrepreneurs create wealth in transition economies , 2001 .

[59]  Mike W. Peng.  Institutional Transitions and Strategic Choices , 2003 .

[60]  Sheila M. Puffer,et al.  Interpreting the Ethicality of Corporate Governance Decisions in Russia: Utilizing Integrative Social Contracts Theory to Evaluate the Relevance of Agency Theory Norms , 2008 .

[61]  Candace Jones,et al.  Co-Evolution of Entrepreneurial Careers, Institutional Rules and Competitive Dynamics in American Film, 1895-1920 , 2001 .

[62]  A. Strauss,et al.  The Discovery of Grounded Theory , 1967 .

[63]  Pamela Jordan.  Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques , 1994 .

[64]  S. Guriev,et al.  The Role of Oligarchs in Russian Capitalism , 2005 .

[65]  John F. Veiga,et al.  Emerging cultural values among Russian managers: What will tomorrow bring? , 1995 .

[66]  F. Bosch,et al.  Co-Evolution in Strategic Renewal Behaviour of British, Dutch and French Financial Incumbents: Interaction of Environmental Selection, Institutional Effects and Managerial Intentionality , 2003 .

[67]  M. Boisot,et al.  From Fiefs to Clans and Network Capitalism: Explaining China's Emerging Economic Order , 1996 .

[68]  G. Bruton,et al.  Resources of the firm, Russian high-technology startups, and firm growth , 2002 .

[69]  Mike W. Peng,et al.  The Growth of the Firm in Planned Economies in Transition: Institutions, Organizations, and Strategic Choice , 1996 .

[70]  G. Warwick.  A GLOBAL BUSINESS. , 1993 .

[71]  Mike W. Peng.  Firm Growth in Transitional Economies: Three Longitudinal Cases from China, 1989-96 , 1997 .

[72]  Vsevolad Gunitskiy,et al.  Violent Entrepreneurs: The Use of Force in the Making of Russian Capitalism , 2003 .